Fort Jackson Theater

Daniel Street & Lee Street,

Columbia,
SC29201

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — The Fort Jackson Theater opened last weekend to rave reviews.
Theater opens after two-year closure
November 19, 2009
By STEVE REEVES, Fort Jackson Leader
Soldiers with the 187th Ordnance Battalion filed into the theater to get the first seats at the Fort Jackson theater grand opening. Crowds gathered outside the theater at least two hours before the movie – a sneak preview of “The Blind Side” – was slated to begin.

Jason Rosenberg, AAFES general manager, Col. Lillian A. Dixon, garrison commander, and Billy Wood, movie theater manager, cut the ribbon during the grand opening of Fort Jackson’s movie theater. Dixon said she made the project, which took two years to complete.

Rene Muniz was one of the hundreds of people who stood in line Saturday to get a sneak preview of the renovated theater, as well as a free screening of the film, “The Blind Side.”

Muniz, chief of Fort Jackson’s Information Assurance Division, gave the theater two thumbs up. “I had been waiting a long time for that theater to open back up, and I wasn’t disappointed,” Muniz said. “Everything was nice and new and very attractive. And the movie was excellent, also.”

Muniz said it’s a big plus for the Fort Jackson community now that the theater has reopened. “I’ll definitely be a frequent visitor,” he said.

The theater holds 750 people, and it was a packed house Saturday. Many of the attendees were no doubt lured by the free movie, but everyone was treated to a sparkling new theater interior.

“Opening the theater is a double bonus for the Fort Jackson community,” said Col. Lillian Dixon, Fort Jackson garrison commander. “It has always been a key venue to our training mission. It also enhances the quality of life for our Soldiers, families and retirees. It will be a great outlet for our graduating Soldiers and their families during Family Day.”

Dixon made reopening the theater a priority when she arrived at Fort Jackson in 2007 and said she is pleased with the result.

“You can’t help but smile when you walk inside the facility,” she said. “I invite everyone to support the theater. The price is right and the company is even better.”

The renovated theater features new seats, curtains and carpet, fresh paint, upgraded projection equipment and concessions, and a new Dolby Digital sound system.

Matt Gibbs, project manager for Fort Jackson’s Directorate of Public Works, said approximately $600,000 in garrison funds went toward the renovation of the theater, which had been closed since 2007 because the facility had deteriorated so badly.

The renovation project began in April, Gibbs said, and was completed just before the theater’s grand opening last weekend.

Matt Shealy, chief of engineering for DPW, said the theater’s ceiling had been badly damaged by water leakage and maintenance of the interior had not been kept up in recent years. “It was just a tired, old space,” Shealy said.

Aside from being a major source of entertainment on post, the theater was a multi-use facility because of its large capacity.

“The theater is as important for training as it is for movies,” Shealy said. “We just don’t have that many spaces on post that can hold 750 people. We really needed the theater to open back up.”

But being a source of entertainment is a large part of the theater’s significance to Fort Jackson, Shealy said.

“We need a theater on post because that’s important for the families,” he said.

Was there on the 17th just passed. Saw Kung Fu Panda 2. It’s changeover with 20 minute reels. I told the young fellow he is continuing a lost art. Xenon, of course. Brand new CP650 with new Crown amps. He had some brand new paper tapes (the kind you used to wrap around the reels). He didn’t know what they were for, I explained. It is listed on maps of the post as Theatre #3. I don’t know where the first two are. The Army Finance museum looks alot like a cinema (didn’t get a chance to visit it [a museum for Army Finance, really?]). The whole layout of the place reminds me of the Olive on Knox.

Photo of the Ribbon Cutting. SEE WHO THE “BOSS” OF THE POST IS, IT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU! Check out the other 2 photos to see who goes to the movies on an Army Post, both young and old. The first flick was THE BLIND SIDE.

With Fort Jackson Google Map shows the Southern United States and Central America, not very helpful in locating the theater. I had checked out the address before I added the theater to this site and I thought Fort Jackson worked?? I must have got confused. I added this theater late at night and when I read it this morning I was disapointed in all the errors even when I had proofread it last night. I think from now on, I’ll add new theaters first think in the morning when I’m awake.